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On scenic photos

I just want to let everyone know that I have a theory on a trend, and I’m calling it now. Scenic pictures – they’re on their way out of the Facebook world. Give it a few months and I believe people will genuinely only bother uploading pictures that involve people or non-people pics that fall into the following niche categories:

1. Pictures taken by legitimately skilled photographers. Honestly, I’m sure you can think of a few friends that you have who are straight up wizards with a lens. Their scenic pictures can stay. Some day (maybe even now) people might even pay to see them!

2. Pictures taken by legitimately nice cameras. Can we all agree that the time has passed when a Facebook album should be expected to contain ongoing shots of parades or cliche landmarks as captured by someone’s Canon point-and-shoot? I’m not saying I don’t love my Cannon point-and-shoot. I do. However, if I’m looking at yet another picture of Boston or NYC, it better either make me feel impressed by the person’s skill with their iPhone or appreciative that they lugged their intense camera around to capture the moment. Otherwise, it probably won’t be worth commenting upon.

3. Random venue shots. I like a little unexpected surprise every now and then. Thus, when I’m casually scrolling through someone’s album on the Book, it’s nice to occasionally have a break in the stream of people, one that sets the tone for the rest of the pictures. I think of it as comparable to the beginning of a play where the set and props are described in italics.

4. Scenery of the international variety. Although I’m probably not looking to venture to, say, China any time soon (sorry all you Wander Onwards fans out there…) I certainly enjoy seeing other parts of the world as documented by my friends. There’s just something more special about the Eiffel Tower when I can picture the person who captured the photo (version at the left captured by moi). Heck, I’ll even have a great time feasting my eyes on foreign turf explored by close casuals (let’s be honest, about half of anyone’s FB friends fall into that category anyways) because apparently even vaguely knowing the photographer of a foreign sight still seems appealing to me.

5. Instagrams. Honestly, isn’t this where skillfully executed pictures of sunsets and lattes belong anyways? I imagine some people will just be too “Share” button trigger-happy to resist continuing to upload their great ‘Grams to the Book. It’s too easy. I’m okay with this though because hey, if I really like a picture maybe I want the opportunity to “Like” it twice. #amiright?

Why do I think these are the only ones that will survive? Simple: uploading pictures is, in my opinion, one of the most annoying online activities out there. It takes me months to get pictures uploaded simply because I hate the process. I imagine I’m not the only person who feels this way. The process takes some time, and in my opinion at some point scenic pictures are not going to be worth people’s time. Facebook wasn’t founded to be a picture sharing site – it was founded to help people interact socially. At some point photos became a part of what we consider to be online social interaction, but the scenic photos are starting to wane because they don’t really serve the same social purpose as other photos. People are interacting with them less, and the effort of uploading them eventually won’t be worth the time. Honestly, if you’ve read this far, you’re a hero…or you’re just as geeky as I am, in which case I’ll ask you: do you think I’m on to something?